This puts me in a moral dilemma. Do I post that one Dilbert cartoon about code re-use or not?
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Pentester pops open Tesla Model 3 using low-cost Bluetooth module
Tesla Model 3 and Y owners, beware: the passive entry feature on your vehicle could potentially be hoodwinked by a relay attack, leading to the theft of the flash motor.
Discovered and demonstrated by researchers at NCC Group, the technique involves relaying the Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) signals from a smartphone that has been paired with a Tesla back to the vehicle. Far from simply unlocking the door, this hack lets a miscreant start the car and drive away, too.
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It’s a very nice car… but with this kind of cash you could build your own.
At least there’s this:
Money raised from the sale will benefit an international scholarship program set up by the company. The goal of the scholarship will be to promote the development of new decarbonizing technologies and resource conservation.
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You know, BLE is really cool tech — in part due to how lax its security is. The barrier to entry is really low, and it’s easy to reverse engineer.
It’s also really bad tech for security-related things for the same reason.
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Very interesting. But will probably go nowhere1). Might have some useful spin-offs though.
1)
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Well it wasnt intended to be an Ekranoplane
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The Drive link ain’t working for me. Here’s something from Naval News.
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Ground-effect vehicles are one of those engineering dreams that just won’t die because the basic concept is just so darn appealing.
And every couple of years someone tries to revive it “because now we have the technology1) to make it actually work”.
After a while the realisation sets in that they’re trying to develop
a) a jack of all trades device2) that suffers from trying to combine use cases and technologies that don’t play well together - basically feature creep3)
b) the applications that actually work and serve a purpose are already covered by existing technology - usually cheaper, faster and less complex
Ground effect vehicles work best over a surface that doesn’t change that much dynamically all the time while crossing it - relatively smooth water, ice, solid ground.
Want to do this, and amphibious? Hovercrafts4).
Waves too high? Bummer. Unless it also doubles as a seaworthy boat or a plane it’s grounded for the time being.
Also-a-plane means flexible wing geometry, added drag, added weight, higher fuel consumption (i.e. shorter range / even more weight), a more complex system overall, with all the baggage. And it would more or less end up being a flying boat5).
Also-a-boat? You’ll end up with another, heavy, seaplane with foldable wings. That can’t fly.
Using a ground effect vehicle over land? Awkward, given how unwieldy they are. Maybe over swamps or steppes conveniently located near a beach.
At the end of the day, the ground effect vehicle won’t be able to deliver what the concept seems to promise.
No, wait, I’ve just had an idea. What if we somehow add hydrofoils and rotary wings? Surely that will make it work at last!
1) New this, new that. Engines, materials… This time it’s probably sensors/computers/software making automatic systems possible that can handle the notoriously tricky steering over waves.
2) A dilemma nicely illustrated by the German term eierlegende Wollmilchsau. The ultimate farm animal which will produce eggs, meat, milk and wool and is probably an excellent draught animal as well.
3) The F-104 comes to mind. Excellent performance at the one job it was actually designed for, with the technology available at the time. Crap as the F-104G.
4) Which come with their own set of problems marring a beautiful concept. There are reasons why they aren’t in commercial use anymore and live on in a couple of niches where efficiency is secondary - military, SAR, funmobiles.
5) Truly wonderful beasts, but… see “hovercraft”.
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When I first read that, the only thing that came to my mind were these kind of ground effects:
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Not actually making widows?
"In the Canadian Forces, the aircraft was sometimes referred to as the “Lawn Dart” and the “Aluminium Death Tube” "
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That’s where the “Crap as the F-104 G” bit enters into it.
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In some ways, it reminds me of Old Chicago, but Old Chicago had some decent rides at least.
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Motors are grand but bollards FTW
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“I got that truck moved like you asked boss”
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My respect for bollards just went up about 20%.
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